All In The Mind?
by Todd's Pet
Summary: Although Todd is in it, this story is about Steve and a telepathic human. It came about as a result of a nightmare I had - I really did fight Steve's demons for him, but I heard on the Wraith telepathic grapevine that he's very, very grateful to me!


All In The Mind?

"Ouch! What is wrong with you, human?"

Steve grabs the brush from the woman, scratching the back of her hand with his claws as he does so. He likes his worshippers attentive and this new one never seems to be able to concentrate.

He turns round to look at her, ready to growl and snarl and generally bawl her out for snagging his hair. But she's standing there with her head bowed and her bottom lip quivering and – yes, that is the beginning of a tear forming on her outer eyelashes.

"Oh, for goodness sake, human!" Steve says, almost feeling sorry for her. "What's the matter with you?"

"No-nothing, Master, truly…" she stammers.

"Oh for goodness sake, stop calling me that! It makes me feel like some kind of school teacher!"

"Wha-what should I call you?"

"Well, a loony human I once encountered gave me the name Steve… it has a nice ring to it, actually. You can call me Steve, if you like!"

The woman remains silent and a single tear runs down her cheek.

"Good grief, human! I'm trying to be nice to you!"

Impatiently, Steve telepathically dives into the woman's head and roots around to find the cause of her reluctance. His snarling smile instantly fades and he tilts his head at her curiously.

"What's this?" he asks her. "Why did you not tell me this before?"

"Tell you what?" she asks, sobbing quietly.

"That you're telepathic."

"I'm what?"

"Telepathic, human! I can hear virtually every conversation going on in this hive inside your head!"

"But I… I didn't know… Oh God! Is that what it is? I thought I was going mad!"

-oOo-

"This has never happened to you before?" Steve asks the woman, who has calmed down now that he is no longer angry with her and is now sitting on the floor in front of him where he sits.

"Sometimes, I knew how people were feeling," she tells him, "but I have never heard voices inside my head like this… there are so many all at once, I can barely hear myself think."

"It must be some kind of latent ability you have…" Steve ponders, "And being among so many telepathic Wraith has awakened it somehow."

"There are so many voices, I thought I was going insane," she says, her bottom lip quivering again.

"That's because you don't know how to control it, how to screen out all the rubbish," Steve replies. He suddenly realises how overwhelming this must be for her. "I will teach you how! Would you like that?"

A small, timid smile flutters across her soft, full lips and Steve has a fleeting thought he immediately clamps down. Suddenly, Steve narrows his eyes as he looks down at her. "Are you able to hear my thoughts, human?"

"Yes," she replies simply.

"Then why are you so afraid of me?"

"Because when you call me 'human' I know you hate me."

"Humans in general are contemptible! But I don't hate you personally. What should I call you then?"

"My… my name is… Georgie…" she falters.

"Hmmm, Georgie," Steve says, trying the name out for sound. "Steve and Georgie… I like it!" As he speaks his hand comes to rest on the top of her head and he allows it to casually travel the full length of her long silky auburn curls.

"Very well, then, Georgie," he says brightly, "You will have your first lesson in telepathy control right this very minute!"

-oOo-

Georgie is singing softly to herself as she walks through the hive corridors. She knows she still has plenty time to tidy up Steve's rooms and get everything ready for him before his bridge watch finishes.

Now that she no longer has to bear the clamour of voices inside her head she is able to perform her duties better and Steve doesn't get impatient with her any more.

In fact on those occasions when he either allows her, or she catches him by surprise, she can sense that his thoughts of her could be described as kind, even for a human, let alone a Wraith.

As she rounds the corner into the side corridor to Steve's rooms, she stops short. She suddenly has a twisting sensation in her stomach and a feeling of dread floods her mind. Then she sees the two soldier drones outside his door.

She approaches cautiously but the drones simply stand aside for her and as she enters the room, her mind is assaulted with horrifying images of deep, dark crawling things, beings she could not even begin to describe, all clawing and clamouring to get to her.

It feels like hell has taken up residence inside her head.

-oOo-

Georgie sits quietly in a corner of the room, watching dozens of Wraith come and go. Steve has been lying prone on the bunk for several days now and the hellish inferno inside her head has been raging all that time, making her entire body ache all over.

"She has barely moved from there the whole time," one of the Wraith says to the Commander who has just arrived.

"And has anyone been successful in reaching him?" the Commander says, nodding his head towards Steve.

"No," the other Wraith replies, "It is useless. He will die."

Georgie looks up at those words and the Commander is surprised at what he sees. It is obvious that she is not simply tired; bone deep exhaustion and gut-wrenching worry is etched on her face.

"Please, Commander," she asks timidly, "What is wrong with him?"

The Commander sighs and senses her deep concern for his officer. For her loyalty alone perhaps she deserves an explanation, he thinks.

"It is a mental illness that afflicts Wraith occasionally," he tells her. "A malfunction with our telepathy. Usually other Wraith can get inside and set it right, but already many have tried and failed…"

"You mean get inside his mind? Fight his demons?" she asks.

"What would you know about it, human?" the other Wraith says contemptuously.

The Commander, however, hears what she's really asking and tunes in to her thoughts. Perhaps this human does know something about it, he thinks.

"Get out of here, human!" the other Wraith demands.

Georgie's heart immediately rushes into her mouth. "No, please! Let me stay!" she pleads.

The other Wraith makes to drag her off her seat and out of the room, but the Commander stops him. "Leave her here," he orders. "She can do no harm where she is."

"But Commander…"

"I said leave her!" the Commander barks. "There is nothing more can be done for him and she is not in the way. Let her stay with him until it is over."

-oOo-

She refuses to sleep while he still breathes; for some reason she doesn't want him to die alone. She sits on the floor by his bunk and simply holds his hand. She can't think of anything else to do. But sheer exhaustion tries to claim her and she drifts in and out of an uneasy sleep.

She wakes in a strange place, dark and damp and airless. The walls

around her are shifting almost as if they were breathing. But there is something else breathing, something else creeping and crawling and watching her. She turns to look and realises she has a sword in her hand. An enormous heavy broadsword; she hefts the shaft in her hand and tests the weight of it. She has never even held a sword before but somehow this feels natural and she knows that she knows how to use it.

She senses something slavering at her shoulder and as she turns she swings the sword around and up, taking its head off its shoulders before it even has the chance to see her face.

But as she looks along the pulsing corridor walls she sees that this monster is merely the first of many; the entire scene before her, as far as she can see is a heaving, quivering mass of indescribable monstrosities.

She swings the sword upright in front of her, the edge of the blade almost touching her nose, and glares at the army from hell before her. She doesn't know how she knows but she feels it in her gut that she must defeat this hellish rabble in order to save Steve's life. She takes a deep, shuddering breathe.

Bring them on, she thinks.

-oOo-

"What are you doing sleeping on the floor, human?" Steve says.

Georgie wakes with a start and can't quite remember where she is. Steve is standing over her, looking at her strangely. He grabs her hand and pulls her to her feet.

As she stands her face comes very close to his and suddenly their minds meet. Not a surreal, imaginary thing, but tangible, something she can almost touch. She knows he felt it too.

"It was you!" he says astounded. "I got the sickness and it was you who brought me back!"

She looks him straight in the eye and can actually feel the connection forming, like something solidifying around them, joining them where they stand.

"I… I fought your demons…" she says, "I wasn't sure if I'd won…"

His beautiful face relaxes into a broad smile and she feels as if the sun has just come out; she can even feel the warmth of it on her face.

Boldly she takes a step closer, so close she can feel his body heat radiating towards her. As if it were the most natural thing in the world, she steps into his arms and he wraps them around her tightly.

"You won, human," he tells her.

-oOo-

I thought perhaps you might like to come with me down to the planet tonight.

That would be wonderful. I'd like that very much.

My bridge watch is short today. I'll be back in four hours. Will you be ready by then?

It shouldn't take me that long even to tidy this lot up; you're very untidy, Wraith!

But you wouldn't have me any other way, human!

Georgie suddenly stops what she's doing and laughs. "Do you realise we just had that entire conversation without uttering a single word?"

"You're getting good at it!" Steve says with a big grin. "I'm even more impressed with how you can help me shield our little conversations from everyone else, human!"

"What happened to calling me Georgie, Wraith!"

Steve puts his arms around her. "Ah, that's strictly for private," he says softly, "For when we join minds and put a barrier up between us and the rest of the hive…"

He lowers his head to kiss her and as he does their minds link, like holding hands; the telepathic barrier they create goes up like a force field and there's no one else in the hive but the two of them.

-oOo-

On bridge watch Steve realises he's forgotten his log. Mentally cursing himself brings his thoughts to the Commander's attention and Todd hears Steve mentally reaching out into the hive to look for Georgie. He hears her faint reply that she's noticed he'd left the palm pilot behind and is already on her way to bring it to him.

Todd raises one eyebrow in surprise at the ease with which they converse mentally.

"You're very efficient today, human!" Steve tells her telepathically.

Todd is fully aware of the subtle nuances in their inner voices and how it has changed Steve's use of the term "human" from one of derogatory insult to one of affectionate pet name.

When she gets to the bridge and gives Steve his palm pilot Georgie could swear the Commander is smiling at her. For a terrifying second she gets a disorientating feeling in her mind and wonders if he knows about her and Steve. But the Commander says nothing to her, so she shrugs the unsettling thought off.

Before she turns to leave she looks up at Steve, tall and slender and incredibly beautiful and says to him inside his head, "Do you know I love you, Wraith?"

"Yes," he says in her head, "I love you too, human – but keep it to yourself!"

He has to concentrate hard to do it, but Todd tunes into their mental conversation. He watches her as she leaves the bridge and notices how she wraps her coat around her as if she were mentally wrapping herself up in their secret.

He senses the truth of their telepathic conversation – they really do love each other. The thought of it makes him smile and he laughs inwardly to himself – he really is getting far too sentimental in his old age!

The End


End file.
